bike culture blogged

Today a German consumer group Warentest shared this video on a G+ post from 2012 from us about the TiGR lock getting cut in 5 seconds with a bolt cutter. TiGr was one of the first Kickstarted bike projects and we had one in on test a year ago. TiGr respond to us with this statement clarifying that Warentest broke the thinner, 19mm version.

There have been statements made by 3rd parties online and elsewhere about the TiGr® Lock that incorrectly claim the lock cannot be defeated and/or claim the same level of security for all versions of the lock. We try to correct these misstatements when we see them. No lock is unbreakable. We do not claim otherwise.

The TiGr® Lock is available in two widths, 0.75” (19mm) and 1.25” (32mm). The 0.75” wide version is a little lighter and a little more flexible, but easier to defeat, than the wider version. The 1.25” (32mm) wide version takes more effort to defeat because there is about 67% more material to break through.

The lock in the cutting attacks shown in the videos we published on the TiGr® Lock Kickstarter page, website and on YouTube is the 1.25” (32mm) version of the TiGr® Lock, i.e. the wider version, as we try to make clear. Those videos show us testing the 1.25” (32mm) wide versions of the lock using our tools. Our testing methodology and the tools we use reflect decades of experience designing, manufacturing and testing a wide range of physical security devices, but are not certified or regulated by anyone besides us.

The 1.25” (32mm) wide versions off the TiGr® Lock have been tested and certified by the ART® Foundation, the organization in the Netherlands that certifies/rates bike locks for insurance companies and consumers in that country.

The 0.75” (19mm) wide versions of the TiGr® Lock are more vulnerable to certain types of attack, including bolt cutter, as recently documented by a German website. That vulnerability is one reason the 0.75” (19mm) wide version of the TiGr® Lock is not certified by the ART® Foundation.

We have provided TiGr Locks to additional publications and other entities for destructive testing. For example, this recently published review of locks includes testing of the 1.25” (32mm) wide version of the TiGr Lock.

All locks can be defeated given the right tools and opportunity to use them. This video documents various attack modes on a fairly wide range of bike locks.

We will continue to try create locks that are hard to break and easy to use. – Jim Loughlin

3 Comments

Whether this particular lock is a good value is a question for others - and maybe it’s too easy to defeat.

But to be clear, most every machine or fab shop has a collection of tools can can defeat any lock made of any practical material. You could make your lock and chain out of tungsten carbide and some tools could still cut pretty easily.

Again, I’m not commenting on whether this particular lock is a good or bad design.